By Sarah Danckert
Wagering giant Tabcorp will pay $45 million to settle a money laundering case with the government's financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC.
As part of the settlement agreement, Tabcorp will make a number of admissions that it did not comply with anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing laws.
Tabcorp has pledged to better monitor customer transactions to prevent money laundering activities.Credit: Getty Images
Tabcorp is currently pursuing a merger with fellow gaming giant Tatts Group, and the settlement of the case will remove one of the potential roadblocks for the $11 billion deal.
AUSTRAC launched a civil suit in the Federal Court against the gaming company in 2015 after concerns it had not properly monitored the behaviour of its customers as directed by current legislation.
It added extra contraventions to its claim in April 2016, taking the total number of alleged breaches to 236.
The company faced a multi-billion fine as each contravention carried a $18 million penalty under current legislation.
The company said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange on Thursday that its contraventions were not a deliberate breach of money laundering and counter terrorism laws.
Tabcorp chief David Attenborough said the company was pleased to have reached an agreement with AUSTRAC.
"We will continue to work cooperatively with AUSTRAC going forward," Mr Attenborough said.
Tabcorp said it had tightened up its compliance on money laundering and counter terrorism funding by introducing a new internal monitoring program it describes as "a material improvement on its former program".
It has also made a "substantial" investments in improving its monitoring of customers transactions by employing a chief risk officer, establishing a financial crime risk team and expanding its anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing teams.